Office of the Provost

Academic Staff Who Support the University’s Departments and Programs

Dear Brandeis Staff and Faculty,

We're writing to share an update with regard to academic staff who support the University’s departments and programs. Now that the new schools have been created and our new leaders are in place, we need to turn our attention to identifying and implementing an academic staffing model that will support this new structure and our internal operations.

In May, University Leadership asked Kevin Keith, AVP Financial Operations, Administration & Budget and Robin Switzer, VP Human Resources to create a working group to develop a consistent staffing structure to best support our new schools and the Office of the Provost. The goal of the working group is to propose a detailed plan for a new staffing structure for approval by September 1. We expect the implementation to be substantially completed by November 1, carried out in collaboration with the Interim Academic Deans and the Provost’s Office.

This working group is composed of a cross functional team with representatives from the Office of Human Resources, the Office of the Provost, Academic Administrative Staff Members, Budget and Finance and ITS. The members of this team consist of:
  • Robin Switzer (Co-Chair)
  • Kevin Keith (Co-Chair)
  • Elizabeth Tierney, Director, Employee and Labor Relations & Compliance
  • Suzanne Albright, Sr HR Business Partner
  • Leila Connolly, Sr HR Business Partner
  • Katharine Colanton, Sr HR Business Partner
  • Kristen Wasielewski, Sr Assistant Provost, Planning & Operations
  • Kristen McKeigue, Assistant VP, Budget & Planning
  • Kenneth Freda, Assistant VP, Finance & Systems
  • Christine Kahn, Director of Operations and Administration
  • Dianne Qualter, Associate Director, Finance & Operations, Heller
  • Heather Felton, Director, Division of Science Operations
  • Meredith Robitaille, Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs & Student Experience
  • Bradford Klinedinst, Sr. Workday ITS Analyst
  • Erika Chin, Associate Director, Compensation (topic specific)
  • Lisa Vigliotta, Director, Talent & Learning (topic specific)
Since the inception of the working group, they have been developing a preliminary structure based, in part, on the information received from the community during the spring staff and faculty convening sessions. As they continue their work, the committee would like to gather further information from you. In the coming weeks, members of the working group will be reaching out to both staff and the Interim Academic Deans to help develop a further understanding of the essential functions that need to be completed on a day to day basis to support the new schools. Information gathered from these conversations will be brought back to the working group and used to further develop an administrative structure that will best support our academic and research missions. More information will be forthcoming regarding the staff information sessions.

The group hopes the conversations in the coming weeks will contribute to a service-focused, effective and efficient administrative structure with teams developed to best support staff members and the overall needs of the Academy. If you have suggestions, questions, or thoughts please feel free to contact any of the working group members or either of us.

Sincerely,

Carol A. Fierke, Ph.D. '84
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Stew Uretsky
Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration